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W/i«ii thlt Is ami lo a Clerg<iman, it U inltndedfir Mm imd the OJicerj of hit CIturek, or hit suoetuor. 



ANTI-SLAVERY REPORTER. 

a 33etfotifcal, 



eONTAININO THB 



'NEW YORK CITY 
ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, 



&c. &c. 



VOL,. I. IVO. 5. 



ISSUED MONTHLY, AND FOR SALE AT THE BOOK STORES 
OCTOBER— 1S33 



|C3» Portage 100 milM and under, l\ Cent* Over 100 miles, 2J C«nt». 



Vol. 1- 

no.5 



f^ 



ADDRESS. 



\ 



Fellow Citizens : 

Having associated together for the purpose 
of removing the greatest reproach from tlie 
character of our beloved country, and of avert 
ing a crisis whicli tlireatens to involve the 
whole land in ruin, we consider it due to you, 
who have the same interests at stake with our- 
selves, to give you a franic explanation of eur 
principlea II d plans. We trust to the candor 
of our fellow citizens, that this enlightened 
community will pronounce an upright judg- 
ment when they shall become fully acquainted 
with our views; while we respectfully protest 
against being judged by the misrepresentations 
of those who are strangers to the feelings of 
our hearts, and forgetful of the principles of 
American liberty. 

Our object, as set forth in our Constitution, 
to which we refer you, is, "'to take all lawful, 
moral, and religious.means, to effect a total and 
immediate abolition of slavery in the United 
Statas." To aim at less, would be to aid in 
perpetuating slavery. We are quite sure that 
all virtuous citizens desire its extinction. It if 
our object to recommen-d to them the only prac- 
ticable and safe plan which has ever been pro- 
posed for the accomplishment of this great 
moral enterprise. It is that of 

Immediate Emancipation. 

By this terra, ■■.we mean to say that all prop- 
erty of man in man should instantly cease; — 
that the right of all men to a fair recompense 
for their labor should be practically, as well as 
theoretically admitted ; and that a'll the people 
of these United States should be equally secu- 
red in the possession of tlie '■ inalienable rights'' 
recognized in the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, " of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness." 

By the epithet, immediate, we mean emphat- 
ically to mark our dissent from the project of 
gradual atjolition — a plan that, on tlie testimo- 
ny of Wilberforceand Clarkson, and the unani- 
mous consent of the philanthropists of Eng- 
land, has been the virtual nwans of preventing 
the abolition ol slavery in the British posses 
sions, for nearly half a century ; a plan which 
has, for almost sixty years, beguiled the free' 



citizens of the United States, by soothing the 
public conscience with the hope of a wise and 
Well digested measure of relief, while the num-- 
ber of the oppressed has already increased from 
half a million to two millions. We object, 
therefore, to the scheme of gradual emancipa- 
tion, because it is too inefficient to arrest the 
mighty evil that threatens to destroy this na- 
tion. In contrast with this, the world knows 
that the doctrine of immediate emancipation 
has availed more, the past six years, in Eng 
land, than fifty years previous discussion of 
the delusive dream of gradual abolition. 

We do not advocate the emancipation of the 
colored race from law ; on the contrary, we 
plead for them that they may be placed under 
its control and protection. We do not address 
ourselves to ilie oppressed ; hui with hearts of 
benevolence to both master and slave, we be- 
seech the master to grant to his slave, what hu- 
manity, justice, interest, conscience and God 
demand. By immediate emancipation, there- 
fore, we mean that measures shall be immedi 
ately taken to deliver the slave from the arbitra- 
ry will of the master, and place him under the 
salutary restraints and protection of law. We 
do not aim at any interference with the consti- 
tutional rights ol the slave holding states, for 
Congress, as is well understood,, has no power 
to abolish slavery in the several states. 

We see no absurdity in the use of immediate, 
as applied to these measures, nor do we trans 
cend the ordinary force of language when we 
call an important and complex public measure 
n immediate one, if it be promptly commen- 
ed with the honest determination of urging it 
on to its completion. The immediate subjuga- 
tion of a revoked province, may be consistent- 
ly urged by the Senator who knows that a pro- 
tracted campaign may intervene between the 
decree and its accomplishment. Or, as our 
fathers, on the 4lh of July '76, declared the 
United States a free and independent nation; 
notwithstanding it required seven years' con- 
flict to place them in full enjoyment of the 
blessing. 

Safety of Immediate Emancipation. 
However new the doctrine of immediate 
^emancipation may appear to some, there is 



68 



abundant evidence that such a measure does noli jlition of slavery throughout the French colo- 
involve danger or loss to tlic emancipulcd, or lo] lues. Colonel Malenfant, a slave propiietor, 
the coninuimiy. BiHivar proclaiiiiecJ liberty toi Iresident at the time in the island, says: 
his slaves, and many prupneturs followed his M " The negroes remained quiet both in the Soulb^ind 
example- nearlv a million of colored slaves in-1 in the West, and they continued to work upon all the 
habited Colombia at that time, and a large |)^.rl| ,plantaUon<. Th„. w„,. .„,„,„= ,.A..A wV„.h h.A 



There were estates, indeed, which had 



were immediately emancipaled. M. Ravenga 



neither owners nor maiiagers reii lent upon them, for 



were immeuia.e.y ea.jMi.t-oicu. .... .vav^..^.., ^^^e of these had been nut into puson by Montbruu: 

declares tli.it the elTecl has been a degree of do-; ^^^ others, tcarine the same fate, had fled to the quar- 
cility on the part of the blacks, and a de;;ree| ter which had just"" been given up tu the English. Yet 
of security on the part of the whites, unknown „pori these estates, though abandoned, the negroes 
in any preceding perrod of the history of that> continued their labors, where Iheie were any, even in- 
republic. I iferior agents to guide them ; aitd on those estates. 

In speakiuff of the slaves, captured by Brit-' ' where no white men were left to direct them, they be- 
ish vessels, and sent to Sierra Leone, Clarkson ! itook themselves to the planting of provisions ; but up- 
says:-'-They must have contracted «* worta/j "" f the plantations where the whites 'e^xl^d, 'he 
oajrcj. _■• J , .. , , . „ . I blacks continued to labor as quietly as belore. Uunng 



a hatred of the whites from their sufferings on| 
board ship by fetters, whips, and suffocation in| 
the hold, as the West Indian from those severi- 
ties which are attached to their bondage uponi 



the year 1795 and part of 1796 I learn nothing about 
them ; neither sood,bad nor indifferent, though I have 
ransacked the French historians for this purpose." 
From the latter end of 179b to 1802, a period 



shore. Under these circumstances then we, of six years, the planters kept possession of their 

find them mude free ; but, observe, not after ggjaipg . jiygj upon them peaceably; and the 

any j)repora/ory discipline, but almost .vi«/t/en- freed negroes continued to be their laborers, 

/y; and no( Sing-/;/, but IB 6'j(/(es, at a lime. ^^ ej (j;jn there be any account more favorable to 

find them also settled, or made lo live, under I gur views than this, after so sudden an emanci- 

the unnatural government of the whites; and,] pation? 



■what is mire extraordinary, we find their pres- 
ent number, as compared with that of the 
whiles in the same colony, nearly as one hun 
d red and fifty to o)(t"« notwithstanding which 
superioritv, fresh emancipations are constantly 
taking place, as fresh cargoes of the captured 
arrive in port." 

The abolition of slavery in Mexico, was vir- 
tually immediate. The slaves were at once ta- 
ken from the arbitrary will of their masters, 
and placed under law. A system of appren- 
ticeship was established, allowing them lo ap- 
ply Ihe compensation received for their labor. 
10 the purchase of themselves and families ; and 
in seven years, slavery had ceased lo exist 



The former masters, accustomed to the prac- 
tice of arbitrary power, and to look down upon 
I the negroes as reptiles of the earth, could not 
hear to come into familiar relations with them 
as free laborers, peaceably as the manumitted 
slaves had, for years, conducted themselves. 
In an evil hour they prevailed upon Bonaparte, 
by false represenllaions and promises of money, 
jto restore slavery. He prepared an immense 
armament under Lcclerc, to bring about that 
e\ent. The hellish expedition at length arrived 
on the shores of St. Domingo: — a scene of 
blood and torture followed, such as history had 
never before disclosed, and compared with 
which, though planned and executed by whiles, 



throughout that great Republic. Dr. Walsh i ;;i|[ the barbarities s.tid to have been perpetrated 
states that in Brazd there are more than halfliby the insurgent blacks, amount comparatively 
a million enfranchised persons, Africans, or of j ! to nothing. In fine, the French were driven 
African descent, who were either slaves them-, |from the island. Till that lime the planters re- 
selves, or are the descendants of slaves. He liained their properly, and llien it was, but not 
says, they are, generally speaking, " well con- | till then, thai they lost their all. 
ducted and industrious persons, who c(Mnposp, ' From that lime to this, there has been no 
indiscriminately dirt'erent orders of ihecommu- nam of suliordinatibnor industry among them. 
nity. There are among them merchanls, farm- They, or iheir descendahls, are the persons by 
ersj doctors, lawyers, priests, and officers of dif- 1 whom the plains and valliesofSt. Domingo 
ferent ranks." , |arc slitl cultivated, and they are reported to fol- 

St. Domingo has reduced to practice thej ijow their occupations still, and \\\\\i as fair a 
same doctrines, with similar good ellects. y<c\\chaT(icte)' ns other free laborers in any olher 
are aware that misrepresentations of ihe St | quarter of the globe. 



Domingo revolution have been so industriously 
made that few personsareat all acquainted with 
the real stale of facts. 

During the French revolution, it will be re- 
membi-red, equality of rights was decreed to all 
citizens. When this was known in St. Domin- 
go, the free people of color petitioned the Na- 
tional Assembly that they might enjuy the 
same political privileges as the whites, which 
was granted. In 1794, the Convention.il As- 



sembly of France, passed a decree for the abo-ii bookstores 



We have now seen, that the emancipated 
negroes never abiisi d their liberty, from the 
year 1794, (the era of their general emancipn- 
iion) 10 the present day, a period of lorty years.* 

• See Clarkson's "Thoushtson the Practicability and 
safely of immediate emancipation." The substance of this 
inestimable pamphlet k found in the Anti-Slavrry Report- 
er, No 3, and should tie thoroughly studied by every ona 
who wishes to form Ins opinion upon /arlJ. The Reporter 
periodical printed in this city, and can be had al th» 



69 



Will any one say that this case is notaualogousi 
to that which we have in contemplation'? Let! 
us reinemljer thai the number of slaves libera- 
ted by the Frenc-li decrees in St. Domingo was 
very little short of 500,000 persons. We main-' 
tain that emancipation in St. Domingo was at- 
tended with far more hazard to persons and 
property, and with far greater difficulties, than 
it could possibly be, if attempted in this coun- 
try. All the slaves were made free at once, or 
in a single day. No notice was given of the 
event, and of course no preparation could be 
made for it. — They were released suddenly, 
from all their former obligations and restraints, 
and became peaceable and industrious citizens. 

We cannot find a single instance in wliich 
emancipation has been tried, that one drop of 
white blood has been shed, or even endangered 
by it. The enfranchised inhabitants of Jamai- 
ca are more numerous than the whites; and yet 
it appears, by returns printed by order of the 
House of Commons, that the proportion of 
criminal conviciions of whites, and of enfran- 
chised persons, was as twenty-four of the former 
to ei>A< of the litter. In Barbadoes the free 
negroes and mulatloes are industrious, and are 
never seen begging, whereas the island is pes- 
tered with white beggars, of all ages. In Trin- 
idad, there are upwards of fifteen thousand free 
people of color ; there is not a single pauper 
amongst them ; they live independently and 
comfortably, and nearly half the island is said 
to be Ih their hands. It is admitted that they 
are highly respectable in character, and are rap- 
idly advancing in knowledge and refinement. — 
The Haytians are 700,000 in number. There 
are no paupers, except the decrepidand aged. — 
The people are charitable, hospitable and kind, 
very respectful to foreigners, temperate, order- 
ly, easily governed, and good mechanics. Ad- 
miral Fleming says, " The most happy, the best 
fed, and the most comfortable negroes I ever 
.saw in ihe West Indies were in Hayti, even bet- 
ter than in the Carraccas, and decidedly better 
than the slaves in Jamaica." 

We also speak of immediate abolition, to 
distinguish our proposals from all indirect at- 
tempts to destroy slavery, in our country. Our 
object being both lawful and honorable, our 
means honest, and our motives pure, we have 
no occasion to conceal them, by professing to 
aim at someihiug else. We consider it crim- 
inal to amuse the country with any project, 
which will not attain an end so essential to the 
prosperitv and very existence of our happy 
union. It is generally admitted, that the accur- 
sed system of slavery has already made the pil- 
lars of onr g'jvernment tremble, and it is de- 
monstrable that notliiiig but its total removal 
can prevent the final overthrow and ruin of this 
republic. 

It is one of our objects to inculcate tba doc- 
trine of I m;nediate Aliolitioii as an in,porlnnl 
moral sentiment, as a duty we owe to our com- 
mon Creator, to our fellow men, and to our- 



selves, as republicans and Christians. We shall 
aim to show that this duty applies to individu- 
als, to communities, to those who lead public 
opinion, to those who are conductors of the 
press, to preachers of the Gospel, to educalors 
of youth, to parents, and to all descriptions of 
persons, as they love the human family, fear a 
just Go !, and hope for a blessed immortality. 

So far are we, therefore, from seeking to turn 
loose an ungovernable horde of blacks, to prey 
upon society, that our sole design is to have them 
transferred from despotism to the control of 
law, providing for their regular employment, 
encouraging their industry, preventing idleness, 
punishing vagrancy, and securing their just 
compensation ; leaving them to labor on the 
soil where most of them were born, and in the 
employments to which they are both fixed and 
jaccustomed; to endeavor to obtain for our col- 
ored fellow men the privileaes held out to them 
in our Declaration of Independence, and to 
which they are entitled by the sentiu.ent of the 
civilized world, as well as by the law of God. 
We feel certain that when the public mind shall 
be permitted to know the fads and shall be dis- 
abused of the impressions by which it has been 
'imposed upon, it will call, in a tone not to be 
denied, for the adoption of measures right in 
themselves, congenial with our republican prin- 
ciples, and fraught with benefits to the whole 
people.* 

j We ask your attention now to a few consi- 
lerations showing the true aspect of slavery 
among us, which are entitled to the most seri- 
ous altention.t These propositions, be it re- 
membered, are each supported by the evidence 
of actually existing laws. 

1. Slavery is hereditary and perpetual, to the last 
.moment oftlie slave's earthly existence, and to all his 

descendants, to the latest posterity. 

2. The laborof the slave is compulsory and uncom- 
pensaled ; while the kind of labor, the amount of tod, 
and the time allowed for rest, are dictated solely by 

Ithe master. IS'o bargain is made, no wages given. A 
i pure despotism |roverns the " liuman brute ;" and even 
iiis covering and provender, both as to quantity and 
quality, depend entirely on the master's discretion. 

3. The slave being considered a personal chattel, 
may be sold, or pledffed, or leased, at tl:e will of his 
master. He niav he exchanged for marketable com- 
modities, or taken in execution for the deblsi, or taxes, 
either of a livinij or a deceased master. Sold at auc- 
tion, " either individually, or in lots, to suit the purcha- 
ser," he may remain with his family, or be separated 
from them forever. 

4. Slaves can make no contracts, and have no legal 
right to any property, real or personal. U'heir own 

* I am for speedy, immediate abolition. I care not what 
caste, creed or color slavery may assume. I am fur its to- 
tal, its instant abolition. Whether it be personal or polit- 
ical, mental or corporeal, intellectual or spiritual, I am for 
its immediate abolition. I enter into no compromise with 
slavery ; I am for justice, in the name of humanity and ac- 
cording to the law of the living God.— O'ConncH. 

t Tliev are taken chieflv from the " Appeal in favor of 
that class of Americans called Africans," by Mrs. Child, of 
Boston, a work that should bo in every family in the Pni- 
iled States. 



•:#.■ 



70 



honest earnings, and the legacies of fricndc belong, in 
point of law, to tlieir masters. 

5. Neither a slave, or free colored person, can be a 
witness ajrainst any while or free man, in a court of 
justice, however atrucious may have been the crimes 

they have seen liim conmiit : but they may »ive testi- 
mony agamst a fellow-slave, or free colored man, even 
in cases affecting life. 

6. The slave may be punished at his master's dis- 
cretion—without trial — without any means of legal re- 
dress, — whether his offence be real or imaginary ; and 
the master can transfer the same despotic power to 
any person, or persons he may choose to appoint. 

7. The slave is not allowed to resist any free man 
under any circumstances ; his only safety consists in 
the fact that his owner may bring suit, and recover the 
price of his body, in case his life is taken, or his limbs 
rendered unfit for labor. 

8. Slaves cannot redeem themselves, or obtain a 
change of masters, though cruel treatment may have 
rendered such a change necessary for their personal 
safety. 

9. The slave is entirely unprotected in his domestic 
relations. 

10. The laws greatly obstruct the manumission of 
slaves, even where the master is willing to enfranchise 
thorn. 

11. The operations of the laws tends to deprive 
slaves of religious instruction and consolation. 

12. The whole power of the laws is e.xerted to keep 
slaves in a state of the lowest ignorance. 

■ 13. Thereis, in this country, a monstrous inequality 
of law and right. What is a trifling fault in a white 
man, is considered highly crimind in the slave ; tlie 
same offences which cost a white man a few dollars 
only, are punished, in the slave, with death. ; 

14. The laws operate most oppressively upon froei 
people of color, as we shall show in future publica- 
tions. I 

In some states,* where killing a slave is de 
dared to be murder, tlie case is e.'ccepted of 
"any slave dying under moderate correction." 
It has been judicially determined Miat it is jus- 
tifiable \o \i\\\ a slave, resisiing, or cfri,riu^ to 
resist his master, by force. This is found in ihe 
revised code of the law of slavery, for up to 
the year 1821, a pecuniary line was the only 
restraint upon the wilful murder of a slave. 

Wc feel it to be our duty to quote from authen- 
tic sources, some specimens of excessive sever- 
ity in our own country, as examples of the cru- 
elty that always exists in slave countries. — 
They are inseparable from the syst;im. If it 
should be admitted that a large proportion of 
masters are as kind to their slaves as they can 
be, consistently with keeping them in bondage, 
it is certain that abominable atrocities prevail 
in every slave state. We have a mass of evi- 
dence on this subject, that is calculated to awa- 
ken a sensibility in this country, equal to the 
feeling excited in England when the " Threo 
months in Jamaica" was published in that 
country. 

A slave being missing, several planters united in a 
negro hunt, as it is called. They set out with do^s, 
guns, and horses, as they would chase a tiger. The 
poor fellow, being discovered, took refuge in a tree; 
where he was deliberately shot by his pursuers. — 

♦ Stroud's Sketch of tllo Slave Laws in the United 
States of America. 



Chiles Appeal, Pagi 34. 

A planter had occasion to send a female slave some 
distance on an errand. She did not return so soon as 
he e.xpected, and he grew angry. At last he gave or- 
ders that she should be severely whipped when she 
came back. When the poor creature arrived, she 
plead for mercy, saying she had been so very ill, that 
she was obliged to rest in the fields ; but she was or- 
dered to receive another dozen ot lashes, for ha\'ing 
had the impudence to speak. She died at the whip- 
ping-post ; nor did she perish alone — a new-born babe 
died with her. — Itlem. Page 25. 

The trade is still briskly carried on in Africa, and 
new slaves are smuggled into these states, through the 
Spanish colonies. A very extensive internal slave- 
trade is carried on in this country. The breeding of 
negroes for the markets, in other states, (Louisiana, 
Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mis&ouri,) is a ve- 
ry lucrative branch of business. Wliole cofflesofthem, 
chained and manacled, are driven through our capital^ 
on tlieir way to auction. — Idem, Page 30. 

Dr. Torrey says, whole families of free colored peo- 
ple have been attacked, in the night, beaten nearly to 
death with clubs, gagged, and bound, and dragged in- 
to distant and hopeless captivity, leaving no traces be- 
hind, except the blood from their wounds. — Idem, 
Page 31. 

Advertisements are very common, in which the mo- 
ther and her children are offered either in a lot, or sep- 
arately as may suit purchasers. In one of these ad- 
vertisements, I observed it stated, that the youngest 
child was about a year old. — Idem, Page 53. 

The captives are driven by the whip, through toil- 
some journeys, under a burning sun ; their limbs t«t- 
tcred ; with nothing before Ihein but the prospect of 
toil more severe than that to which they have been ac- 
customed. — Idem, Page 33. 

Dealing in slaves has become a large business. 
Establishments are made at several places in Mary- 
land and Virginia, at which they are sold like cattle. 
These places are strongly built, and well supplied 
with thumb-screws, gags, cowskins, and other whips, 
oftentimes bloody. But the laws permit the traffic, and 
it is 3ufti;red. — jYiles' Register, vol. 35, page 4. 

■5 Woman has no protection against the unbri- 
dled IujIO.' l.er master or his overseers, or any 
white man. The slave, and his wife, and his 
daughters, being considered as the property of 
t'leir owners, compelled to yield implicit obe- 
dience, not allowed to give evidence, and ptib- 
lic opinion ridiculing the slave's claim to any 
exclusive right in his own wife and children, 
upwards of half a million of female slaves in 
this country, are continually subject to the in 
suits of brutal passion. 

In Athens, the female slave could demand 
protection from the magistrates, against insult- 
ing treatment. But the American female slave 
is liable to the penally of death, if she do but 
raise her hanJ, where by all other codes, \\o- 
man may resist even unto death, and be guilt- 
less. 

The general licentiousness that prevails in 
slave countries, is notorious. In many plac s 
there are few slave children that can be call d 
legitimate. The idea of moral purity is searce- 
ly°more known than it is among brutes. The 
multitude of mulaltoes in the United States, 
[bear evidence of the great licentiousness that 



71 



prevails, on tlie part of the whites, in their in- 
tercourse with the black population. Moralists 
have depicted its miseries in glowing colors, 
and slave holders have admitted the pernicious 
effects of the slave system upon the morals of 
the community and upon individuals.* 

* "You may whitewash the sepulchre — you may put 
upon it every adornment that fancy can suggest, — you may 
cover it over with all the flowers and evergreens that the 
garden or the fields can furnish, so that it wDl ap.'jear beau- 
tiful outwardly unto men. But it is a sepulchre still — full 
of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. * * * Slave- 
ry is the very Upas tree of the moral world, beneath whose 
pestiferous shade all intellect languishes, and all virtue 
dies." — Dr. Andrew Thompson. 

Slavery " is not useful, either to the master or to the 
slave ; to the lalt«r, because he can do nothing by virtue ; 
to the former, because he contracts, with his slaves, all sorts 
<if evil habits, inures himself insensibly to neglect every 
moral virtue, and becomes proud, passionate, hard-hearted 
violent, voluptuous and cruel." — Montesquieu. 

'* The whole ccinraerce between master and slave is a 
perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the 
most unremitting despotism on the one eart, and degrading 
submission on the other. Our children see this, and learn 
to imitate it, for man is an imitative animal. The parent 
fltorms ; the child looks on, catches the lineaments of wrat' 
puts on the same airs m a circle of smaller slaves, givt 
loose to the worst of passions ; and thus nursed, educated, 
and daily exercised in tyramny, cannot but be stamped by it 
with odious peculiarities. The man must le a prodigy 
who can retain his morals amd manners undepraved, ic 
such circumstances." — Jeff^erson. 

In another plac:, the same statesman has said in view of 
slavery, " I tremble for my country, when I reflect that God 
is just, and that his justice cannot sleep forever. The Al- 
mighty has no attribute which can take sides with t 

With regard to thS religious privileges of the 
slave, it is next to impossible that there should 
be a general diffusion of Christianity in a slave 
holding state. In Georgia there is a law which 
forbids any coagregation or company of ne- 
groes to assemble themselves, contrary to the 
act regulating patrols. Every Justice of the 
Peace may go in person, or send a constable, to 
disperse any assembly or meeting of slaves, 
wliich he supposes may disturb the peace, &c. 
and every slave taken at such meetings may, 
without trial, receive on the bare back twenty- 
five stripes. The West India planters boldly 
proclaimed that slavery and Christianity could 
not exist together, and that the latter must be 
put down. The express command of our Lord 
Jesus Christ makes it the duty and privilege of 
every human being to "search the Scriptures." 
Yet, in this Christian country, it is a penal of- 
fence to teach a slave to read the Holy Scrip- 
tures, to give him a tract, or a copy of the Bi- 
ble. It is therefore impossible for the Ameri- 
can Bible Society to carry into effect their noble 
resolution, to supply every family with a copy. 
Although they profess to have accomplished 
this object, yet two millions of the people are 
yet unfurnished with this invaluable treasure. 

Is Virginia and South Carolina any school 
for teaching reading and writing, either to 
slaves, or free people of color, is considered an 
unlawful assembly, and may be dispersed, and 
punishment inflicted upon each pupil to the 
number of twenty lashes. The city of Savan- 



nah, a few years ago, passed an ordinance, by 
which 

' Any person tliat teaches a person of color, slave or 
free, to read or write, or causes such persons to be «o 
taught, L3 subjected to a fine of thirty dollars for each 
offence ; and every person of color who shall teach read- 
ing or writing, is subject to a fineof thirty dollars, or to 
be imprisoned (en days and whipped Ihirly-nine lashes." 

We do not doubt that the humanity of some 
slave holders mitigates the operation of such 
laws. But in all countries men are considered 
subject to despotism who have no protection but 
the generosity of their rulers. The laws in 
any state are a good index of the popular will. 
If then a majority of the masters, in slave stales, 
were mild and humane, is it to be supposed 
they would have published their own shame on 
the pages of their own statute books ? It is 
worthy of remark, that in human despotism, 
cruelty of practice is wont to go beyond cruel- 
ty of law. If we do not believe this general 
principle, in regard to the slaves in our own 
land, must it not be because we have received 
the testimony of the master only ? 

If any thing could aggravate the case of a 
slave, it is that he is in a land boasting of its 
freedom, among people who are continually 
speak ':ig the praisesof liberty, and under a gov- 
ernment, of which the corner stone is the dec- 
laration that " all men are equal." These laws, 
so inconsistent wiih natural justice, and with 
religion, are continually increasing in severity ; 
their rigor in fact keeping pace with the increas- 
ing number of the slaves. Fifty-seven years 
ago, the world observed the inconsistency be- 
tween our glorious declaration of equal rights, 
and our practice of domestic slavery. But 
witnessing the efforts of Franklin, Rnsh, Jay, 
King, Sedgwick, and other patriots, who soon 
after the revolutionary war formed societies to 
promote the same great end at which we now 
aim, gave us credit for sincerity, and took for 
granted that effectual measures would be adopt- 
ed for the speedy removal of this foul blot upon 
our national escutcheon. What will the wise 
and good in foreign nations now say, when, af- 
ter the lapse of nearly sixty years, without a 
step taken for the extinction of slavery, they 
learn that the people are unwilling to listen to a 
feasible plan for its accomplishment? Already 
docs every true-hearted American hang his 
head in foreign lands, when obliged to confess 
that he belongs to a country, which has been 
fifty-seven years boasting of its liberty, and in 
that time has quadrupled the number of its 
slaves. Look at one sixth of our twelve mil- 
lion citizens in slavery, and say. Shall this deep 
stain continue forever. 

Slavery must soon terminate, if in no other 
way, by the rapidity of its own growth. When 
our fathers declared that all men are created 
equal, they still held about half a million in 
bondage. These have increased to more than 
two millions. In twenty years they will be four, 
and in forty years, eight millions. Since the 



73 



last war was declared, in 1812, the slaves have 
doubled in number ; and unless the remedy be 
applied before the children born in the year 
1833 arrive at manlu.od, they will ai;ain double. 
The slightest observation must satisfy any per- 
son that such a slate of thins;? cannot continue 
in this enlightened age. We have seen the re- 
publics of the New World liberated from a for- 
eign yoke by the power of public opinion, 
Greece made free, France revolutionized, Great 
Britain reformed, Slavery abolished in the 
West Indies. Should liberal principles be dif- 
fused as rapidly in twenty years to come, as 
they have advanced in twenty years past, who 
can believe that the year 1850 will find four 
million persons held in bondage in Republican 
America ? Reason, humanity, and religion, join 
in saying, slavery ought not to continue. A 
calm and philosophical observation of causes 
and effects teaches that it cannot ! 

The Crisis. 

That a crisis full of danger to the slaljility of our hap- 
py government, to the security of a larg:e portion of our 
beloved country, and to the interests of humanity itself, 
h:ts arrived, events fre^h in the memory of the nation 
loudly proclaim. But the appalling future more im- 
portunately demands our attention. It is shown by the 
census of the United States, that during the period of 40 
years immediately preceding the year 1830, the slave 
population south of the Potomac and the Ohio had 
Q.UADRUPLED in number; and in the states north 
of those boundaries, in a majority of wirich tlie abolition 
principles of our revolutionary ancestors have triumph- 
ed, the colored population had NOT aUlTE DOU- 
BLED. 

In Eastern Virginia (according to a communication in 
the Af. Rep. for April 1 833 page 1 6 ) it appears that from 
1790 to 1830 the white population had diminislied 131,- 
915, and the colored had increased 143,063. Tliis al- 
most incredible disparity of population occurred not- 
withstanding the vigorous prosecution of the domestic 
slave trade, by which Virginia has been in the habit of 
exporting annually to the South, 6000 slaves. The 
same result followed the oppression of the Hebrews in 
Egypt, "and the land was filled with them."* 

From these facts, it is evident that the condition 

OF BONDAGE, IS THE REAL CAUSE OF ACCMENTING IN AN 
UNN'ATURAL AND FRIGHTFUL RATIO THE NU.MBERS OF 
THE OPPRES.SED. 

Let not the "delusive project" of Colonization, divert 
the public mind from this impending evil. 

Tlie present yearly increase of slaves is about 70,000. 
In case of emancipation the increase ofthe same popula- 
tion would be reduced on half, tVom the operation of cau- 
ses which have produced the same effect in the north- 
ern states. This we trust is sufficiently apparent from 

* Exod.c. 1, V. 7. Where it appears that though Pha- 
reah undertook "to deal wisely with them," ihc God of the 
opprsBsed made them too strong for him—and (12th verse) 
"the mom they afflicted them, the more thev multiplied and 
grew." Esodll: 1. We find it said, "When he (Pha- 
ro&h) shall let you go, he shall thrust vou out allogelher." 
Let it not be so with us, or it may be ominous of Divine in- 
terposition. The negroes in our country are now the same 
in number as the Israelites, when Gel brought them out 
of Egypt. They had been about 200 years in bondage, 
(not lot) as some have incorrectly said,') and their oppres- 
sors tltouglit of thursting them out ofthe land, as is at this 
time a popular plan m our o^vn country towards the slave, 



what ha s already been shown. Now let us contrast 
I he effects of Emancipation, with those of the Coloni- 
zation project. Their estimate of $30 "per head" for 
which it is said on emigrant can be tran.spoited to Afri- 
ca, although below the full cost, makes the expense 
of carrying off the annual increase $2,000,000 per an- 
.uiin, while to purchase them for the purpose, at the 
lowest jestimate, would require the annual expenditure of 
14 millions of dollars additionally, and this immense ex- 
pense would be exhausted in keeping this population 
stationary ! We omit here to refer to the inhumanity 
of thus banishing the natives of our common country, to 
inhospitable and "deadly shores, and confine ourselves to 
the futility and impolicy of the project. Such empiri- 
cism never can cure the disease ot the body politic — 
This must be done by the removal of slavery alone. — 
Every moment of delay only sweeps us nearer to the 
awful precipice of destiny. The slares double in less 
than 20 years, while the whites in many places by li- 
centiousness and emigration actually diminish ; thus it 
is evident that no infatuation is so mad, none so blind at 
that which urges the delay of measures already dilHcult, 
and which must soon become absolutely im-practica- 
ble. 

Whatever may be the considerations derived from 
these facts, one circumstance should be borne in mind 
by every lover of his country, viz. that the recent act of 
the British Government in liberating the slaves of Ja- 
maica, and the other British Islands, has rendered abo- 
lition I.V our country IMPERATrVE and unavoidable. 

It is this fact, which adds certainty and gives impulse to 
the progress of universal liberty throughout tlie world. 
Wc are thus driven to the conclusion, thatslavery must 
terminate in one of these ways : — 1. By the extermi- 
nation of the blacks. 2. By the extermination ofthe 
whites. Or 3. By voluntary emancipation. To pre- 
vent the first two, by promoting the adoption of the 3d, 
is the aim of our Society. We rejoice that humanity 
and patriotism concur with conscience and scripture in 
showino; that the best wny to do it right is to do it as 
soon as we can. 

What then shall be done 1 
It is to this momentous inquiry, that a sense 
of duty to our country, and of kindness to our 
brethren who hold slaves impels us to call your 
attention. On so difficult a subject, the appeal 
should be only to the good sense and sound 
judgment, to the conscience and the heart, not 
Itothe baser passions', nor to prejudice. It is 
j the character of error and injustice to be pas- 
sionate, and refuse to hear reason. Neither you 
nor we, respected fellow-citizens, have any in- 
[ terest but in finding out the truth, and doing our 
I duty. Let us nol act the part of those, who, 
Iwhen the first martyr to the Christian religion 
declared that truth to the people, which cut 
them to the heart, " gnashed on him with their 
teeth, stopped their ears, ran upon him with one 
accord, cast him out of the city, and stoned 
him." 

Nor will putting off discussion either remove 
the evil, shun the danger, or avert the crisis. — 
Already it has been postponed too long. Instead 
of the half million of 1776, we have now up- 
wards of two millions. 

Whatever, either of difficulty or of danger, 
there is in the process, will only be increased 
by delay. If Abolition .Societies should sus- 



!n1Su^Uedffi^:^;.l^^^"^i:^Si^l?;;dl J^ adding to the w we no.be.of.ee pe.o^. 

JHS brethren ,n the West Sl^t^r^-S:! ^'^^^^>^:^Z^:^^!^e^;:iZ^;^ 
less wiJl It alter the inherent wrong of slavery, persons '• ■^'.u.mree nrthsol all otlicr 



or obliterate the guilt of holding, buying, arid 
selling MEN created in the image of Ood.- 
Nor have we any right to roll upon posterity a 
responsibility which properly rests upon our- 
selves, and wluch, if sutTered to descend to our 
children, will come upon them with accumula 
led force. 

Our very object precludes the idea of all re- 
sort to force. We have no force but the force 
of truth. Nor do wo propose any measuresnot 
strictly within the allegiance we owe to the con- 
stitution and laws, under which we live. 

The course of examination and free discus 
sion we are pursuing, is the very method which 
our national constituiion indicates, and secures 
when it says, " Con^'ress shall make no law 
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the pres^ 
or the rights of the people peaceably to assem- 
ble. That in seeking the abolition of slavery 
we conform to the spirit of the constitution, and 
are strictly within tlie letter of it, is plain from 
the fact, that this venerated instrument gives no 
sanction to a system so abhorrent to the princi- 
ples of '76. In all those provisions in which for 
the preservation of the Union they thought it 
necessary to keep slavery in view, as an exist- 
ing state of things, they acted under the expect- 
ation that it was only temporary, and would 
soon cease. Even the name of slavery has not 
polluted its pages; thus showing that our fath- 
ers would not have that document go down to 
posterity, carrying the disgraceful record that 
free Americans held their fellow men as 
slaves. 

Thus it naturally and properly belongs to the 
several states to determine the mode and cir- 



Thus making it directly for the interest of all 
the stales to increase their power in the nation 
by changing all their "other persons" to '• fret 
persons." 

But while we confine ourselves within the 
jstrictest construction of constitutional rights we 
jdo not intend to be precluded from urging any 
measure whi, h the constitution warrants Con- 
igress e.xercises "exclusive legislation in all ca- 
ses whatsoever, over" the District of Columbia. 
If evidence were wanting to prove that we have 
declined from the principles of our fathers we 
find It m the fact that the only portion of our 
country, for which the government is alone re- 
sponsible, IS filled with slaves, and is the mart 
ol a slave trade scarcely inferior in enormity 
to that of Africa. We are therefore literally a 
SLAVE HOLDING NATION. The abolition of slave- 
ry, in our own District, is a measure within the 
power of Congress, and so manifestly easy and 
safe, that It ought not to be delayed another 
year. And when this is done, we cannot but 
(hope that somewise application may be made 
of the power of Congress 'to regulate com- 
merce among the several States." so as to effect 
the entire suppression of the infameu.s domes- 
tic SLAVE TiiADE. While Congress refuses to 
do these things, the world will give the nation 
imle credit lor its professed desire to abolish 
this accursed traffic, or to put an end to slavery ; 
but will justly think lj.e alleged want of power, 
on the part of Congress, is a mere pretence. 

As our course is the only one by which sla- 
Ivery can be abolished, consistently with the 
Constitution, so it presents the only means of 
preserving our national union. Already have 



cumstances in which one p^/^on m^y be i;;;;d^ ^e^^^^^l^^^lZZu'^^'^ ^ 
to labor for another. The states, therefore, will : threatened, and as Allowed b^eadiiL men of 



their respective bounds. The" constittition de 
Clares that, 

" No person held to service or labor in one state, un- 
der the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in 
consequence ot any law or regulation therein, b« dis- 
charged Iroin sucli service or labor; but shall be deliv- 
ered up on daitn of the party to whom such ser\ice or 
labor may be due," 

This provision is as applicable to minors and 
apprentices as to slaves, and will be as import- 



very. Scarcely is one crisis passed when an- 
, other impends; and it is evident that thissuc- 
Icession of dangerous excitement.^ will never 
end but by the removal of its cause. 

Our country is so knit together, in all lis 
parts, that nothing could ever sunder it but the 
conflicting views and interests growing out of 
slavery. The plans proposed enable us to seek 
the removal of this cause by iweans which can- 

states, when slavery shall have celsedrsjU^I .^^.'^'^^'^ ^^'^'^'^vhen successful, will greatly 
now. And speaking only of '>?sons held 1^^' Jr,n^h T "!i"°"l' '"""^'- '^^^' °"'>' P""'" 
.ervice or labor" it gives not the least cm nte ^^'°.'^'' ^""P °>-ed is that of a reformed pnMic 
nance to the odious claim of propeSfn h,'man' Si' '"'' ^l'^'^^"'"""" "^ 'he union will not 
flesh. If any one should makeT^ irthe no t^, "-^ ''T V"^ ^'l^''^'- ^""^ ^'"'"^'y 
United States Court, solelv on the ground that o^inn "."J"' """'' °^. ■"endering public 

a certain iadividnal was his property, he would I He ?n»T°*"^ '"^"' 'n''"''' "'*''">' ''>' ^""■ 
undoubtedly be nensuitec;. °"^'^ i tl ,t .^t '^J'O"' "r w'" a^t upon the especta- 

i jtion that the-free States will become less bold 



T4 



delivered their rainda on tlie subject on being 
to speak from all political connection with it. 
Let it be distinctly remembered that our ob- 
ject is purely moral. It is to deliver our coloied 
brethren from slavery, and our white fellow 
citizens from the sin of oppression, the fair 
fame of our country from the slimming reproach 
of hypocrisy and tyranny, and ourselves and 
posterity from the judgments of an offended 
God. Should interested politicians seek to 
avail themselves of the slavery question to pro- 
mote the views of party, we disclaim their in- 
terference. While engaged in a purely benev- 
olent work we will not suffer the reproach of 
being actuated by political views. 

Our whole reliance therefore, under God, is 
on the power of truth, and of public opinion. 
These weapons were successfully employed by 
Wiiberforce, Clarkson, and their associates, to 
destroy the slave trade. The same power in 
the hands of Buxton, Lushinglon, O'Connell, 
and others, has wrung from a reluctant govern 
ment, the death warrant of slavery in all the 
British dominions. Let it not be said that in 
free America, truth and the sentiments of hu- 
manity, have less sway than in the monarchies 
of the old world. 

We aim to bring back the public sentiment, 
concerning slavery, to the healthy state of thej 
first days of the republic ; and restore the abo-! 
lition principles of Franklin, Jefferson, Kush,l 
Jay, and others, and do what we conceive those 
sages would do, if they were now on the stage 
of human life. We would echo and carry into 
.speedy effect, the voice of the disinterested La 
Fayette : 

" While I am indulging," savs he, " in my views of 
American prospects and American liberty, it is mor- 
tifying to be told, that iii that very country a large 
portion of the people arc slaves ! It is a dark spot on 
the face of the nation. Such a state of things can- 
not always exist." 

It is not only a right, but an imperative duty, 
to exhibit the heinousness of the slave system 
an I to endeavor to bring about its entire aboli 
tion. 

" The moral, social and political evils of slaver)-," 
says an independent abolitionist, and able writer,* 
" are but imperfectly known and considered. These 
should be portrayed in stroivg but true colors, and it 
would not be difficult to prove, tliat however i-nconve- 
nient and dangerous emancipatiou may be, tht con- 
tinuance of slavery imtst be infinitely more inconvenient 
and dangerous. * * * But we have as good and per- 
fect a right to exhort slave holders to liberate their 
slaves, as we have to exHrot them to practice any vir- 
tue, or avoid any vice Nay, we have not only the 
right, but, under certain circumstances, it maybe our 
duty to give such advice ; and while we confine our- 
selves within the boundaries of right and duly, we 
may, and ought to, disreg.\rd the threats and 

DE.KUKCIATIONS BT WHICH WE MAY BE ASSAILED." 

The pl'ilanthropists of Britain were opposed 
atfir having truth on their side, they tri- 

umphed. Their motives were assailed, their 
•haracters vilified, and their persons exposed to 
•H«n. Wb|. Jay. 



the fury of mobs. But this only showed them 
where they had to begin their work — by pro- 
ving how deadly is the influence of slavery in 
debasing the principles even of the free. Chris- 
tianity was opposed, and its advocates forbid- 
den to speak on the subject. Republican prin- 
ciples are resisted in many countries; and the 
danger of free discussion forms the theme of 
many a state paper in absolute monarchies. — 
But no sanitai-y cmdon, even where tyranny 
usurps dominion over mankind, can forever 
shut out the contagion of free principles. The 
temperance cause also was opposed with bitter- 
ness, bv many who now acknowledge its be- 
nign effects, and would be ashamed to be num- 
bered among its enemies. 

The same public opinion, which can move 
masters to voluntary emancipation, will also 
tend to deter slaves from insurrection; because, 
while it is strenuously urged as the immediate 
duty of the masters to liberate their slaves, and 
to change oppressive laws, no countenance is 
given to the slaves in seeking their freedom by 
physical force. Slave holders are our country- 
men, and scjjieof them our personal friends. — 
God forhid that we should stir up tlie oppress- 
ed to wreak vengeance on the heads of their 
masters. The more slaves are enlightened and 
christianized, the belter they will appreciate 
the follv, as well as madness, of attempting to 
seize upon their rights through the blood and 
flames of a servile war. The power of correct 
principles to prevent bloodshed, is seen in the 
fact that in the insurrection at Jamaica, none 
of the Christian negroes were found among 
those wlio were engaged in scenes of violence. 

The plans we propose, will also furnish the 
only effectual check to the disgraceful amalga- 
mation between the white and colored races, 
which is now making such rapid progress 
wherever slavery exists. Restore the blacks to 
their rights, protect their persons, honor the 
marriage institution among Ihera, permit fami- 
lies to remain together, and there can be no 
doubt each race will, of choice, seek alliance 
only among themselves. 

The measures suggested can be demonsti-a- 
ted to be the only means of preserving a large, 
fertile and beautiful portion of our country from 
impoverishment and depopulation.* To say 
nothingof a war between the whites and blacks, 
the only remaining means proposed, of bring- 
siavery to an end, is that of gradually 
emancipating the slaves, on the condition of 
tliiiir being immediately carried out of the coun- 
try. But if the total abolition of slavery is to 
be accomplished only by the entire removal of 
the slaves, it is manifest that such a method 
must bemost disastrous to large sections of our 

President Jefferson, tliough n slave holder, gave it as 
opinion, that " the blacks will ultimately, (in spite of 
_.. attempts to keep them ignorant,) be the sole possessors 
of tli« low country, and the whites be obliged to migrate 
tn other regions." But this may be prevented by emanci- 
pating, educating, and christianizing the slaves. 



75 



country if, as is said, they cannot be cultivated, 
by white laborers. Besides, this method is im- 
practicable; for it is not to be expected that in- 
dividuals will surrender what they consider 
their property in slaves, and at the same time 
condemn their fields to perpetual unproductive- 
ness for the want of laborers. Nor will the 
States consent to strip themselves of one half 
their population, and with it a large part of 
their federal power, when by emancipation their 
national influence would be perpetually increas- 
ed. If it should be attempted by purchase, it 
may well be questioned whether Congress has 
the Constitutional power to apply the treasure 
of the nation to such an object. But if that 
could be done, or if it should be attempted by 
the funds of voluntary benevolence, the first 
purchases would so raise the price of slaves, 
that their pecuniary redemption would trans- 
cend the means of the nation. The loss of a 
few thousand at the south-west, by cholera, less 
than two per cent, of our whole slave popula- 
tion, has the present year raised the price of 
slaves in Virginia 25 to 50 per cent.* The 
same would be the effect of expatriating thirty 
or forty thousand slaves in a year, and the price 
would increase almost indefinitely as laborers 
were diminished in nuinber. If they were re- 
deemed, or voluntarily liberated, who can calcu- 
late the price of transporting them across the 
Atlantic, or furnishing thern there with the 
means of sirpport, of improvement, and of in- 
dustry. Or if they were removed to Africa as 
fast as they increase in the United St:ites, and 
there fed, how could they be governed ? It is 
the serious apprehension of many persons that 
there would be danger, even under the firmly 
established government of the United States, in 
admitting tliem to their natural rights. R-.it 
though we do not admit this danger, in freeing 
them on the soil where they belong, there may 
be a question as to their competency to main- 
tain a government, uncultivated as they now 
are, if thrown in a mass beyond the control of 
a civilized country. We say nothing now of 
the attachment of colored Americans to their 
native land— nothing of the hardships they 
must endure in expatriation — nothing of the 
cruel injustice of refusing to redress their 
wrongs, but upon the penally of banishment to 
a sickly climate, and a barbarous shore. We 
barely say, that doing right is the only thing 
that will save some of the fairest portions of 
this country from depopulation. 

In favor of this banishment of two and a 
half millions of Americans from their native 
land, there is only a single argument, and that 
is tlie unmerited antipathy of the whites against 
them, on account of their color. The abolition 
of slavery will, itself go far to remove this ir- 
rational prejudice, for it is not found excrpt in 
xlnve holdhiiT cnnntries. At any rate, it is too 
much to ask its gratification at so costly a price. 
Whereas the abolition of slavery under safe re- 

•Richmond K»qiiirer. 



gulations, prescribed by law, is merely chang- 
ing the civil relations of the people, and would 
not interrupt the business, or orJfer of society, 
for a day. The land, the houses, the money, 
the credit, the meichandize, the education and 
intelligence, the professional skill, the knowl- 
edge of business, the political pre-emience, the 
press, the schools, the churches, would all be in 
the hands of the whites. The necessity of sub- 
sistence, and the attachments to home, and to 
the famiJy, would lead the blacks to seek em- 
ployment where they live ; while their labor 
would be just as necessary to the planters as 
before. Society, instead of being dissolved by 
the disruption of half its members, would be 
more firmly knit together, by the ties of mutu- 
al dependence, and the only cause of distrust 
and vengeance would be forever removed. The 
fertile soil, which holds all the world as its trib- 
utaries, would continue to pour forth its pre- 
cious products, enriching its owners, without 
endangering their tranquillity. 

The A.MER1C.1N C'olo.nization Society. 

In the outset of our labors, we are met by the 
determined opposition of a society managed 
chiefly by slave holders, which has set itself", by 
its official publications, and by speeches in its 
meetings, to maintain that the continuance of 
slavery, is necessary, and to denounce in bitter 
terms, the advocates of immediate emancipation, 
as a combination of "deluded fanatics and reck- 
less incendiaries." Deeply grieved as we are, 
that respectable individuals should thus echo the 
ribaldrv of the base, when they are unactjuain- 
ted with our plans, we cannot submit to this un- 
deserved reproach, without attempting to show 
how far our fierce assailant is herself deserving 
of confidence, as a remedy for the evils of slavery. 

Had the American Colonization Society con- 
fined its pretensions to the design of the pious 
men who were among its founders, it would nev- 
er have opposed the abolition of slavery. Its de- 
sign, as expressed in its constitution, is to colo- 
nize the Iree people of color, with their consent, 
on the coast of Africa, or elsewhere. The hope 
of its founders, as stated by one of them,* was 
that "a few of the free blacks, of good character, 
could be settled on the African coast," and be the 
means ''of introducing civilization and religion 
among the barbarous tribes already there." But 
knowing the reluctance of the free people of col- 
or to remove to a climate that proved latal to so 
many ; t aware that their residence in slave 

* Samuel J. Mills. 

r The governor of the colony, Dr. Mechlin, speaking of tlic 
mortality of the emigrants who went from Charleston, Sa- 
vannah, and Maryland, says "the propoition of deaths is 
not yet more thari one per cent, and a fraction, nor do I 
think, ilwill in the whole, after they have fully undergono 
their scas-nins, eiceed three pet rent."— African Rqjmiitn. 
ry, June, 18S3, p. 120. The cholera in 1832, carried ofl" 
4,000 inhabitants in this city, which is a little less than one 
a.-.da half per cent. The mortality of new colonists at 
Liberia, who go from the fouthern parts of the United 
States, is not much more than double that which in New- 
York made every heart flint ! And it is know« now that 
VERY TEW survive who emigrate from the nori/iem statM. 



16 



states gave great uneasiness to slavemolders ; andi 
conscious of the difficulty of obtaining funds from] 
the cliarily of'fhe people, the society has been,; 
by its friends in the vorlhern states, held up as a 
remedy for all the evils of slavery, while in the 
f!outhern states they have solicited funds on tlie' 
ground thai colonizing the free people of color 
would enable the slave holders to retain their 
slaves with a lirmer grasp. It is for the purpose 
of occupying the whole ground, and satisfying! 
both slave holders, and those friendly to eventu-' 
al emancipation, that the Colonization Society 
assumes to frown down all direct attempts to re- 
move the dreadful evil of slavery. At the same 
time tlie abettors of slavery in llie south, have 
been increasing the ferocity oftheir law against the 
instruction of the .slaves, and their emancipation, 
while they have been infringing upon the rights; 
of the f/ee people of color, in order to malce t/iemi 
wiiling to emigrate. 

Concerning the pretensions of the society, of, 
promoting the abolition ol slavery, the judgment 
of European philanthropists has already antici- 
pated that of posterity. The protest of july,i 
183:}, agamst the American Colonization Socie- 
ty, signed by Wilberforce, Buxton, Liishington,! 
O'Connell, and other British abolitionists, vvho| 
are unaffected by our national or sectional excite- 
ments, has pronounced the professions ol the 
society ''delusive,'- and its existence "an obstruc- : 
lion" to the overthrow of slavery throughout the' 
world. To enable the public to judge whether 
the Colonization Society has any claims to pat- 
ronage, as an institution professing, or tending, 1 
to rid the countiy of slavery, we shall quote tesli-i 
mony, chiefly from their official organ, the Afri- 
can Repository, the instrument by whicli it has! 
been, for more than ten years, moulding the pub-| 
lie sentiment toils purposes. 

THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY DOES NOT AIM AT ABOLI- | 
TION. j 

" It is far from tlie intention of this Society to effect, | 
n any manner, the tenure hy which a certain species > 
J property is held." — Henry Clay. 

" From its orisin, and throughout the whole period 
of its existence, it has constantly disclaimed all mteii- 
tion of interlenng, in the smallest degree, with the 
rii;lils of properly, or the object of emancipation, 
gradual or luimediate." * * * "The Society I 
presents to the American public, no project of eman- j 
cipation." — Idem. 

"He tlionght it necessary to show, that so far from I 
bein" in tbe smallest degree connected with the aboli- 
tion of slavery, the proposecl society would |iTove one 
of the greatest securities to enable the master to Ucep 
in possession his own property." — Randol|ili's Speech. 

'• it is no Abolition Sociely ; It addresses, as yet, ar- 
guments to no master. It denies the design of at- 1 
tempting emancipation, either partial or general." — , 
African Repository, vol. 3, p. 197. I 

"The Coionizition Society, as such, have renoun- 
ced wholly the name and characteristics of abolition- 
ists. In this point they have been unjustly and inju- 
riously slandered. Into their accounts, the subject of 
Emancipation does not enter at all." — Idem. p. 306. 

" Recognizing the constitutional and legitimate ex- 
istence ot Slaveiy, it seeks not to interfere, either di- 
rectly or indirectly, with the rights which it creates. 



Acknowledging the necessity by which its present 

ontinuance, and the rigorous provisions for its main- 
tenance, are justilied," &c. — Idem. vol. 3, p. 16. 
" To eradicate or remove the evil immediately is 

mpossible, nor caji any law of conscience govern 
necessity." — Vol- 1, p. 251. 

' The scope of the Society is large enough, but it 
is nowise mingled or confounded with the broad 

weeping views of a few fanatics in America, who 
would urge lis on to the sudden and total abolition of 
slavery." — Vol. 3, p. 197. 

" The emancipation of slaves or the ameliora- 
tion of ihojf condition, with the moral, intellectual, 
and political improvement of people of color within 
the Ij nited States, are objects foreign to the powers 
of this Society." — Address of the Board of Managers, 

f the American Colonization Society, to its Auxiliary 
Societies. — Vol. 7, p. 291. 

" Our Society and the friends of Colonization wish 
to be distinctly understood upon this point. From 
the beginning they have disavowed, and they do yet 
disavow, that their object is the emancipation of the 
slaves." — Speech of James S. Green, Esq. before the 
New-Jt>rsey Colonization Society. 

COLONIZATION TENDS TO PERPETUATE SLAVERY. 

They, (the Southern slave holders) will contribute 
more effectually to the continuance and strength of 
this system, (slavery) by removing those now fl'Cc, 
than by any other methods which can possibly be de- 
vised." — African Rep. vol. 1, p. 227. 

" Tlie Society, as a society, recognizes no princi- 
ples in reference to the slave system. It says nothing 
and proposes to do nothing, respecting it." * ♦ * 
" So far as we can ascertain, the supporters of the 
colonization policy generally believe, that slavery is 

this country a constitutional and legitimate system, 
which they luive no inclination, interest nor ability to 
disturb." — North American Rcvie\y, for July, 1832. 

The tendency of the scheme, and one of its ob- 
jects, is to secure slave holders, and the whole south- 
ern country, a5;ainst certain evil consequences grow- 
ing out of the present three-fold mixture of our popu- 
lation." — Address of Rockbridge Colonization Socie- 
ty." — African Repository, vol. 4, p. 274. 

'There was but one way, (to avert danger,) but 
that miiiht be made effectual, fortunately. It was to 
provide and keep open a drain for the excess beyond 
the occasions of profitable employment, Mr. Archer 
had been stating the case in the supposition that after 
the present class of free blacks had been exhausted, 
by the op'?rniion of the plan he was r^(;oiiiniending, 
others would be siinjilied for action, in the proportion 
of the excess of colored population it would be neces- 
sary to throw off, by the process of voluntary manu- 
mission or sale. The effuct must result inevitably 
from the depreciating value of the slaves, ensuing 
their disproportionate multiplication. The deprecia- 
tion would be relieved and retarded at the s;ime time, 
hy the process. The two operaticms would aid reci- 
procally, antl sustain each other,. and both he in the 
highest degree hcnct'cial. It was on the ground of 
infcrost, therefore, the inns t indisputable pecuniary in- 
terest, that he addressed himself to the people and 
lejislatures of the slave holding states." — Speech of 
Mr. Archer, ^^ifleenth Annual Report. 

THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY APOLOGIZES FOR SLAVSRT. 

" Slavery is an evil entailed upon the present sene- 
ration of slave holders, which they must suffer, wheth- 
er they will or not." — African Rep. vol. 5, p. 179. 
"The existence of slavery among us, though not at 
all to be objected to our Southern brethren as a fault," 
&c, — Second Annual Report of New York Coloni- 



TT 



latioB Society. " It (the Society) condemns no man 
because he is a slave holdef." — African Repository. 

"They, (the Abolitionists) confound the misfor- 
tunes ot one generation with the crimes of another, 
and would sacrifice both individual and public good 
to an unsubst:intial theory of the rights of man." — 
African Repository, vol. 7, p. 202. 

In almost every address, delivered before the 
Society, similar expressions occur. By assuming 
the ground implied in the above extractSj tlieCol- 
onization Society have fallen into the habits of 
glossing over and palliating the enormities of 
the slave system. 

IT JUSTIFIES KEEPING THE SLAVES IGNORANT. 

E. B. Caldwell, the first Secretary of the American 
Colonization Society, in his speech at its formation, 
reooinmeiided them to be kept " in the lowest state of' 
ignorance and degradation, for, (says he) the nearer 
you bring them to the condition of brutes, the better 
chance do you give th^m of possessing their apathy." 

" The public safety of our brethren at the South re- 
qnires them (the slaves) to be kept ignorant and un- 
instructed." — G. P. Di^osway, Esq. an active Coloiii. 
zatinnist. 

" If the free colored people were generally taught 
to read, it might bean inducement to them to remain 
in this country, (that is, in their native country!!) 
We would offer tlicm no such inducement." — South- 
ern Religious Telegraph, February 19, 1831. 

"It is the business of the free (their safety requires 
it) to keep the slaves in ignorance. But a few days 
ago, a proposition was made in the legislature of 
Georgia to allow them so much instruction as to ena- 
ble them to read the Bible ; which was promptly re- 
jected by a large majority." — Proceedings of N. Y. 
State Col. Soc. at Second Ann. 

COLONIZATION INCREASES THE VALUE OP SLAVES. 

" The execution of this scheme would augment, in- 
stead of diminishing, the value of property U't\ be- 
hind." — African Rep. vol. 2, p. 22. 
The Society traduces the Colokeo People. 

Our citizens arc often told by agents and oth- 
ers, who are pleading for money, that the Colo- 
nization Society is to civilize and evangelize Af- 
rica. "Each Emigrant," says the Hon. Henry 
Clay, "is a Missionary, carrying with him cre- 
dentials in the holy cause of civilization, reli- 
gion and free institutions." "Thev," [the free 
people of color,] "and they only," savs the Afri- 
can Repository, "are qualified for colonizing Af- 
rica." What are their qualifications ? Let the 
society answer in its own words: 

" Free blacks are a greater nuisance than even 
slaves themselves." — African Rep. vol. 2, p. 328. 

" A horde of miserable people — the objects of uni- 
versal suspicion — subsisting by plunder." — Gen. C. 
F. Mercer. 

" An anomalous race of beings the most debased 
upon earth." — African Rep. vol. 7, p. 230. I 

" Of %11 classes of our population the most vicious 
is that of the free colored." — Tenth Annual Report. 

The Colony facilitates the Slave Trade. \ 
We seek to do the Colonization Society no in-i 
justice; but wish the public generally to under- 
stand its character. The tendency of the Society | 
to abolish llie slave trade, by means of its Afri- 
can Colony, has been strenuously urged by itst 
friends. But the fallacy of this is admitted by' 



the following extract from the Fourteenth Re- 
port of the Society itself, in 1631. 

"Some appalling facts in regard to the slave trade 
have come to the knowledge of the Board of Mana- 

s, during the last year. With undiminished atro- 
city and activity in this odious traffic now carried on 
all along the African cr)ast. Slavefactories are estab- 
lished in the immediate vicinity of the colony ; and at 
the Gallinas,) between Liberia and Sierra Leone) not 
less than 000 slaves were shipped during the last sum- 
mer, in the space of three weeks." 

On the 6th of April, 1832, the British House 
of Commons ordered the printing of a document 
entitled "Slave Trade — Sierra Leone," contain- 
ing official evidence of the fact that the pirates 
engaged in the African Slave Tradn, are fiip- 
plied from tiie storesof Sierra Leone and Liberia, 
w^ith such articles as the infernal traflSc demands I 
An able English writer, on the subject of Coloni- 
zation, thus notices this astounding fact : 

"And here it may be well to observe, that as long 
a.s negro slavery lasts, all colonies on the African 
coast, of whatever description, must tend to support 
t, because, in all commerce, the supply is more or 
less proportioned to the demand. The demand ex- 
ists in negro slavery ; the supply arises from the Afri- 
can slave trade. And what greater convenience 
could the African slave traders desire than shops well 
stored along the coast, with the very articles which 
their fade demands. That the African slave traders 
ds g'.t tliiis supplied at Sierra Leone and Liberia is 
matter of official evidence: and we know from the 
nature of human things, that they will get supplied, 
in defiance of all law or precaution, as long as the 
demand calls for the supply, and there are free shops 
stored with all they want at hand. The shop keeper, 
however honest, would find it impossible always to 
distinguish between tlie African slave trader or his 
agents and other dealers. And how many shop 
keepers are there any where that would be over-scru- 
pulous in questioning a customer with a full purse? 

The Moral Influence of the colony is not 
what was anticipated. 

That it is a convenience to missionary opera 
tions in Africa, to have a well regulated com 
mercial station on the coast, cannot be doubted. 
But as to any direct moral influence from a. tra- 
ding colony, all history forbids us to expect it. 
If any such colonies could produce such a result, 
we might have expected it from those of New- 
I'^ngland. But their superior skill in trade, in 
arts, in arms, the diseases they introduced, tlie 
strong drink, the deadly weapons, and the wars 
between tribes, have exterminated the natives of 
this country. That the influence of Liberiamay 
be the same, is greatly to be feared. The Rev. 
J. B. Pinney, now just returning to Africa, as a 
missionary, says of the colony, in which he spent 
.several months: 

"But two or three hitherto have done any thing 
scarcely towards agriculture. The wealthy find it 
easier to trade ; the poor suppose itdegradins:. ' ♦ * 
Nothing has been done for f he natives, hillu-rin, by 
the colonists, e.vcept to educate a few who were in 
their families in the capacity of servants. « ♦ * 
A colonist of any dye, would think himself degraded 
by marrying a native. * ♦ * As little effort is 
made by the colonists to elevate them, as is usually 
made by the higher classes in the United States to 



78 

better the condition of the lower. Such I Kipposei lone to effect the olhsrl An enlightened corarau- 

wiM evar be the case, when men are not actuatea by nitv will iudcre 

a pure dcsira to do eood." "! u. '^'•ii. 

,,,,^,1 , = ,.,, ... J , i' , '5ut>J"''P"acipal objection against expatna- 
It ha3 also been credibly staled, and never de-j ■ tion is, tliat it is founded in prejcdice against a 
med that fourteen hu.vi)red barrels of RLM,| part of this nation, on accountof the shade which 
( besides other spirituous liquors) have been sold j the Creator lias given to their complexion The 
at the CO ony, in a single year. The "Liberia , Society styles itself "American," solicits the sup- 
Herald shows also, that gunpowder, guns, and| port of the whole nation, and has even petition- 
• spear-pomted knives," are sold at Liberia asj ed for the patronage of the Government Its 
the principal articles of commerce. Knowing: voice therefore, ifsustained, will be taken bv the 
these tacts, many friends ol temperance, and of world as the voice of the whole nation, saving to 
peace, who lorraerly contributed liberally to the; one-sixth of its members: We have su'ch con- . 
Society, have declared that they cannot consci-, ;tempt for vou, on account of that for which vou ' 
callously do so any longer. ,-„: : .1 . - ... '_" 

The CoLomzATioN Society c£nsdres the pormino 
OF Anti-Slavery or Abolition Societies. 
When Anti-Slaverii- Societies are blamed, and 
considered aggressive, for opposing the Coloniza- 
tion Society, it seems to be forgotten that the 



iare in no way to blame, that we will not suffer 
! you to live among us, but will oppress you, and 
[weary you out, till you shall consent to be ban- 
ished to the grave yards of Liberia. 

Jf the principal members of the Colonization 
Society had not declined setting an example of 
Colonization' Society had filed ifspirnws pro-"*™'""^'P^","g ?!"-7 .^''''■'es ! i*" 'he Society had 
/ra/ against the formation ot Anti-Slavery Socie-1 "P' f'''?''''^^'->' disclaimed all efforts for abolition; 
lies.' We appeal to the Records. 1 1" it had not apologized for slavery, and jusli6ed 

-«Tho Society * * * bavin;: declared that it is in i '''^''P!"?^ the slaves m ignorance; if it had not 
nowise allied to any Abolition Society in America, ori ut^/a'r'v monopolized nearly all the sympathy in 
elsewhere, is ready, whenever there is need, to pass at this country for people of color; it it were not 
censure on such Societies in America."— Speech of ^an opiate on the consciences of slave holders 
Mr. Harrison, of Virginia, Fifteenth Annual Report.! and a delusion before the eyes of the philanthro^ 

The Colonization Sijciety, as has been clearly] pic; if it did not oppose Abc.'ition Societies- if 
shown, solemnly disclaims any design of promo- u did not hold out one imlucenient to the people 
ting the abolition of slavery; no intellij;entj | of the northern states, and an opposite one to the 
Iriend of that society believes it practicable everj people of the southern states; we should not 
10 remote the whole slave population from the| baveoccasioij to bring forward these painful evi- 
country ; most persons consider it impracticable I dences that it is an obstruction to t!oe impiove- 
to remove even the annual increase ; it is suscep-[ nient of the colored race, to the progress ol reli- 
tible of e.isy demonsOsation that the entire aboli-; gion, to temperance, to peace, and the righ's of 
tionof shivery by voluntary emancipation will, man. As a Society, we have clearly prov'ed that 
become less probable it the value of slaves should,! itis obnoxiousto these censures. If.aswe doubt 
increase, as it will, by the removal of a part;i not, many of its members are at heart opposed 
and that the design of producing entire cmanci- to the avowed principles we have quoted, it is 
pation, cherished on the part of any portion of tlie : for such to consider the correctness of adhering to 
colonizatiunists, by removing the free blacks 10 an institution that is doing so much to uphold 
Atrica, is a scheme that must be pronounced! them. The piety of some of its founders the 
chimerical by every well informed person wtioj 'devotedness of many of its agents and the' res- 
examines the subject. To deny it, is conclusive jpecl in which a large number of its friends are 
evidence that the person has but a superficial deservedly held, will not rescue ihe principles of 
knowleds-e of the subject, or the opinions of the Society from being regarded as inimical to 
those most conversant with it. I '• tlie welfare of the'colorcd people in this nation. 

But It is said by some that "the moral in/ht-'l But-whatevfr may he ilie ditl'erence of opinion 
enre ot the Society, by the discussion and inqui-; on several subordinate points, there is only one 
ries It excites, will eventually tend to the total' way to meet the crisis to which we havearrived. 
abolition of slavery." It would seem, ho wc- or, The proof is abundant that the only means of 
that little credit is due to the Society, for ))iomo-t safety is the c))</rc abolition of Slavery. Itis 
ling discussion, since we find il calling meetings,; believed, that when the doctrine is properly un- 
and employing distinguished orators to stigma-; derslood, our citizens will not be slow to he cdh- 
lize as lanatics a!ul incendiaries those who have! vineed that the only wise method of makin" it 
avowed it to be their object, by inquiry and ii'm-l ,e?ilire is to make h immtdiale. The right, and 
cussion, '-to awaken a public sentiment througb-i ■ the God of right, are with us. Relying 'upon 




rmgly denounce those who only wish to use ihe firm and settled assurance, that, whate'ver of labor 

or gbloquy, it may cost the friends of abolition, it 
* Conslituiion of the New York Ciiy AmirSlavery So-!|is THE CAUSE or Gon anb OUR Country, and will 



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